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A 3 star B&B in Great Yarmouth

Spindrift is a small family run Bed & Breakfast/Guest House in the seaside resort of Great Yarmouth. I recently stayed here for four nights between the 16th March and 19th March 2009, taking advantage of a mid week special offer at a total cost of £65 per person (based on 2 people sharing a room).

Location wise this place is superb. It's located on Wellesley Road, which runs parallel to but just inland from the seafront. The Britannia Pier is quite literally just around the corner and it is well within easy walking distance of all of the main attractions. At just £16.25 per person per night I feared that this might just be the sort of place that was too good to be true and upon arrival my first comment was that "It didn't look as nice as it did on the website". Of course, I was only referring to the exterior of the building, which is basically a large house that probably dates from around 1900, but a series of modern extensions have removed most of any charm that it once had.

There isn't a dedicated car parking area (something that concerned me a little) but free parking is available on the street outside and being just out of season I was assured that this wouldn't be a problem. Indeed we managed to park without any problem and moved the car several times, each time returning to more or less the same space, but I suspect that in high season this wouldn't probably be the case.

To be honest my initial fears were not justified. We were greeted by Dawn, the owner upon arrival and she was friendly. First impressions of the lobby were favourable and when we were shown our rooms we were equally impressed. Our room, a double was on the second floor and like all of the rooms at the Spindrift, en suite. The room was medium size with a large wardrobe, bedside tables at either end of the bed, tv with freeview and a small refrigerator, but there was a sink/vanity unit against one of the walls, which looked a little odd. The bathroom was actually located down a couple of steps and through a set of swing doors. This bathroom was quite long but rather narrow; hence the sink in the room, but it contained a spacious shower cubicle plus the toilet and like the room, was spotlessly clean.

Our room was more than adequate for our four night stay and a quick inspection soon located a hairdryer in one of the drawers. On the landing outside there was an iron and ironing board that was shared with the other two rooms on the same floor.

The Spindrift is quite a small guesthouse, comprising of just seven rooms; two family rooms, four doubles and a twin room. All rooms have a hospitality tray with tea, coffee and hot chocolate plus a digital safe. All rooms also have Wi-Fi.

Breakfast was served in the dining room on the ground floor between 8-9 am. I opted for a full English breakfast each morning, which comprised of bacon, egg, tomato, beans and mushrooms and I can confirm that it was delicious each and every day. Toast was served after this and prior to its arrival you could help yourself to cereals and juices, tea and coffee was brought to the table. As an alternative to a full English breakfast a vegetarian version was available, a continental breakfast or things like scramble eggs on toast could also be ordered.

There are no bedrooms located on the ground floor and the age of the building does unfortunately mean that it is not suitable for disabled guests. However if you are looking for a cheap room in a central location and a decent breakfast then I would certainly not hesitate to recommend this to others.

The house is set out on four different floors, including the attic space at the top of the building. The ground floor is reserved for the dining area and an entrance lobby. This lobby is packed full of useful visitor information about the local area but it isn't really a place that you could sit down and chill out in as it isn't spacious enough. There is no communal tv lounge for guests but on the plus side guests have a key to both their own room and the exterior door so they are free to come and go as they like day or night.

I suppose it's easy to criticise a place like this but before you do you obviously need to consider value for money. The view from the bedroom window was nothing amazing. Don't expect a sea view from any of the rooms or you will be disappointed. Our bedroom overlooked the owner's garden below which was an enclosed courtyard full of garden gnomes.

There were several minor flaws encountered but nothing that was serious enough to spoil our stay and where problems were found these were quickly rectified. We discovered the digital safe didn't work because the batteries were flat, these were promptly replaced with new and on the second day there was no hot water in either the taps or the shower. We had to call for assistance and it soon became clear that the boiler had been turned off in error. Again this was quickly sorted.